Julius fuchs



J. FUCHS.

(No Model.)

CORSET.

' No. 367,140. Patented July 26, 1887.

In war d fi z'ifness es.

' I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS FUCHS, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

CORSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,140, dated July 26, 1887.

Application filed November 12, 1886. Serial No. 218,741. (No model.) Patented in Belgium August 21, 1886, No. 74,307; in

' France August 21, 1886,No.178,106, and in Italy November 20,1886, N0. 20,708/74.

To all-whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ULIUs FUcHs, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at Vienna, in the Province of Lower Austria, in the Empire of Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corsets, (for which Letters Patent have been granted in France, No. 178,106, dated August 21, 1886; Belgium, No. 74,307, dated August 21,1886, and Italy, N 0. 20,708 74, dated November 20, 1886 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective rear view of part of a corset showing the arrangement of the lacing-strings or laces and the mode of lacing the corset. Fig. 2 is a like front view of so much of a corset as is necessary to show the front fastenings. Fig. Sis

a face view of aportion of the frontstays, showing my improved clasp or clamp on an enlarged scale and in a closed position. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the stays, showing the clasp by an edge view; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the stays in their pockets.

The primary object of my invention is to so construct a corset that the same, in cases where it may be too tightly laced,'-may be loosened to any desired extent without necessitating material exposure of the upper partof the body of the wearer, substantially as hereinafter fully described.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the front stays may be unhooked without necessitating the opening of the dress for that purpose, substantially as hereinafter fully described.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means whereby a corset, if too tightly laced, may be loosened to any desired extent, and, when loosened sufficiently, secured in place to prevent further loosening of the corset, without necessitating the opening of the dress, substantially as hereinafter fully described. I

To these ends theinvention consists in a novel arrangement of the corset-laces, in the combination therewith of means for adj ustably securing the laces, and in the mode of lacing the k stantially as hereinafter fully described, and

as set forth in the claims.

My invention is applicable to any existing style or form of corset made in two halves,laced together in the back and hooked together in front, a portion of my said invention being applicable to thatstyle of corset in which the lacing is the only fastening.

I will first describe the arrangement of the laces, the means of adjusting the same, and the mode of lacing the corset, referring more particularly to Fig. l of the drawings.

The corset 0 shown is composed of two halves, c and 0, provided along the back edges with eyelets e e, as usual. Although I may employ a single lace for lacing the corset, I prefer to use two laces, L and L, one for the upper and the other for the lower half-of the corset. One end of the lace L is secured to the upper eyelet, e, of the section 0 of the corset, and one end of the other lace, L, is secured to the lower eyelet, c, of the section 0 of said corset.

The laces, instead of being passed zigzag fashion through the eyelets from one section to the other, are passed through said eyelets in the following manner: Taking as an illustration the lace L, the end is passed from the upper eyelet e of section a of the corset directly across to the upper eyelet e of section 0, thence down section 0 to the next eyelet thereof, thence across through the second eyelet e of section 0, thence down along said section through the third eyelet 6, again across through the third eyelet e of section 0, and so on, both laces being laced in the same manner, their ends passing through the center eyelets of the series, as plainly shown in Fig. 1.

It is obvious that in adapting this mode of lacing the path of the laces is less obstructed, and consequently there is less friction, the

laces running freely through the eyelets, so that on releasing either one of the laces the upper or the lower half of the corset may be readily loosened, or said corset may beloosened along the entire length by releasing both the laces. The ends of the laces I1 and L may be brought to the front of the corset and there tied, or they may be tied at back, so that should it become desirable to loosen the cor" set this may be done by simply untying one or both laces.

By simply tying the laces the degree of tightness of the corset can, however, not be regulated very easily, and the untying and rctying require more or less lengthy manipulations of the laces. To avoid this I provide means whereby the lace ends may be readily secured and the degree of tightness of the cor set adjusted. To this end I attach to the free ends of the strings or laces L and L a tape or ribbon, l and Z, respectively, to which are secured a number of eyelets, c c, and at asuitable point on the front stays, S and S, I secure hooks h and h, respectively, Fig. 2, to which the tapes are hooked. W'hen laces proper are employed, the eyelets may be secured directly thereto; but to cause the same to run more freely through the corseteyelets c and c, I prefer to use lacing-cords, asshown, in which case the eycleted ribbons or tapes are neccs sary.

It will readily be seen that when it is desired to loosen either the upper or the lower part ofthe corset, or to loosen the same the full length, it will only be necessary to unhook the tapes from their hooks, and a slight bend of the body toward the right or left will cause the cords or laces to'slip in the eyelets c and c, and when the corset is sufficiently loose the cord ends may again be secured by hooking the tapes to their respective hooks, and this may be effected without opening the body of the dress to any extent.

To provide means for unlocking or unhooking the two halves or sections 0 and c of the corset 0 without opening or removing the body of the dress, I employ a button-hole-locking device B made in two sections, Band B, applied to one of the stays, as the stay S, the stay S being provided with the buttons or studs A, as usual.

The section B of the locking device is rig idly secured to the stay S. It has the form of a U, from the right-hand leg If of which projects one-halfof the button-hole b, thelOcking-edge b of which is perfectly straight and terminates at the left in a semi-cylindrical recess, which constitutes one half of the eye of the button-hole. The section B of the button-holc-loeking device consists of a leverarm pivoted at its lower end near the leg I)" of section B, and a locking-latch, b, havinga straight locking-edge, I), terminating on the left in a semi-cylindrical recess, which forms the other half of the eye of the button-hole, I

and on the right in a curved lip or nose, I)", that embraces the shank of the stud or button A when closed. At its free end the lcvcr'arm of section b has a stud or button, B that projects sufficiently from the front face thereof to serve as a hand or linger hold, whereby the section B is manipulated to unlock the stays. In Fig. 3 I have shown the locking device in its closed position, in which it is held by a spring, 8, secured at one end to the upper end of the lever-arm of section B, the free end of the spring abutting against the left leg I)" of the U-shank of section B, said free end of the spring being preferably slotted, so as to straddle the leg If, and to be held thereby against displacement.

The manipulating buttou B projects through a slit, 1), formed in the pocket I? of the stay S, as shown in Fig. 5. By means of the construction described the unbuttoning of the front stays may be readily effected without opening any portion of the body of the dress by simply moving the section B by means of the button B toward the left, and the corset may thus be wholly unbuttoned, or only at a certain point or points, as may be desired.

It is obvious that other forms of pivoted locking devices may be used to effect the same purpose, and such devices need not necessarily be made in two sections, as any wellknown form of hook may, for instance, be employed; but I prefer to employ the locking device described, for the reason that it affords the same security as the ordinary button-hole 'clasp or lock, there being butlittle or no dangcr of an accidental unlocking of the corset.

Having now particularly described my in" vent-ion, what I claim, and desire to soon re by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a corset, the combination, with two IOC lacing-strings having one end secured to opposite sides and opposite ends of the meeting edges of the corset and running through the eyelets to the longitudinal center thereof, of fastening devices, substantially as set forth, secured to the front stays of the corset, to which the free ends of the laces or strings are made fast, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. A corset composed of two parts adapted to be laced together in the back and hooked together in front, the combination, with the lacingstring provided with an eyeleted extension, of the front stay provided with a retaining device to which said eyeleted extension is secured,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

8. In a corset, the combination, with two lacing-strings having one of their terminals secured to opposite sides and ends of the meeting edges of the corset and passing through the eyelets along said meeting edges to the longitudinal center, the free ends of the strings being provided with a plurality of eyelets, of retaining devices secured to the front stays of IIO the corset for adj ustabiy securing the strings, I In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 10 substantially as described, for the purpose presence of two witnesses. v r

4. In a corset, the combination, with the JULIUS FUCHS. stays, of buttons or studs connected with one of said stays, and a series of locking devices, Witnesses:

13*, carried by the other stay, constructed and EDMUND JUssEN,

adapted to engage the buttons or studs, as de- OTTO SOHIFFER.

scribed, for the purpose specified. 

